THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 5146, 15 August 1878, Page 2

THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY.

(Br Telegraph.)

LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL. Wednesday, 14th August.

NEW BILL. The Hon. Colonel Whil aoro j-ceived nrssion to introduce a Bill entitled the Ex--cutive Councillors Act, IS7B.

SECOND READING. The Harbour Bill was read a second time. COMMITTEE. The Council went :' lto eommitt-e on the Literary Institutiors and Public Libraries Bi'l. On reaching to clause 10 progres swr~ reported, and leave obtained sit again to-morrow. The Trades Union and Reprnt of Statutes Bills were likewise considered, and pros..: -3 reported?

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. ] Tuesday, 13th August. < the electoral bill. i After the 10 o'clock adjournment, ( Mr HODGKINSON continued the debate ' on the El- ctoial Bi'l. While approving of the Bill, he remitted it was not accompanied by a '• Bill re-di>tributiug seats. The two years' resi- ' donee clause wts a v.'se and conservative : measure. He would have preferred bavins? t.vclve monthV local residence to six. He oppos d the woman's franchise, and Hade's system. Mr BO WEN commented on the speech of the hon. member for Cheviot, as a fair and practical criticism of the Bill. He wr - glad it was not discussed from a party point of view He hoped a Legislation Bi'l would be brought down, and dealt with in a similar manner. j He did not admit the principle that manhood suffrage wovM give a 1! that was ne- icd in the Colo. y. He instancrd casrs in America where the tyranny of the majority had often buried out of fight some of the best and wisest minds in the country. The Government proposals, m the main, were fair and reasonable. He admitted the residential clause and plurality of votes. At the present time not more than twothirds of the electors were on the roll, and so it would be in the future. He did not see how rolls were to be purged and namrs placed on the ro I', in rr-pect to v sidenee, when persons left their districts; and it atruck him that the lowering of the property qualification and enacting of plurality of votes would remit in giving more property votes, and thus act in a manner contrary to what the Government exp cted. As to woman's suffrage, he contended that under the present system women were fully represented, and, by family ties,exercised a great deal of political influence, and that the class of women who would come into the House would not be those who would be accepted by the women of the country as their representatives, He disapprovrd of the Maori qualification, which would a''ow them to interfere in our elections ps well as their own. Mr SUTTON thought the Bill dealt with a question which wrs not of burning importance, and predicted that were the franchise lowered as proposed, it would be productive of the evil results which had followed a similar condition of things in Victoria, and would not in any way tend to good government. Instead of political power being thrown into the hands of the bulk of the people, it would be placed in the hands of large employers of labour. He deni'd that the lower classes were the mo-.t liberal. The true liberals were to be found in the middle class. The registration and exercise of votes should be insisted upon, and votes Bhould not be allowed to persons who were rate defaulters. Mr WOOLCOCK wanted to know why the Government had not introduced a measure which would give to the voice of every man in the countiy an echo in that House. The Bill was not sufficiently in unison with the democratic tendencies of thought in a new Colony. The debate was adjourned, on the motion of Mr Reeves, and the House rdjourn i at 11.50 p.m. Wednesday, 14th August. the eastern question The Hor. W. FOX gave notice to j-k, if the Government had receiv- i any communication from Lord Beaconsfield regarding the settlement of the Eastern Qir -tion ? THE NATIVE MEETINGS. Mr FOX gave notice to ask for further information than that already afford; d regarding the recent Native meetings. QUEEN V. O'CONNOR. Mr G. E. BARTON gave notice to ask for the production of the depositions in the cr-e of the Queen v. O'Connor. ONEHUNGA HARBOUR. Mr O'RORKE asked whether the water at the end of the new wharf at Onehunga is less deep than at the old one ; whether the piles were driven the proper depth; and whether the Harbour-master was consulted as to the suitability of the site ? The Hon. J. MACANDREW said that as soon as necessary the information would be laid before the House. PERSONS INJURED OX RAILWAYS. In reply to Mr Stevens, The Hon. J. MACA3DREW said it was not proposed to make any provision to meet the case of pevjons employed on railways who suffered injury in the execution of their duty. They would deal with eveiy individual case upon its merits, a? lowing six months' salary in ease of death. THE NEW ZEALAND GAZETTE. In reply to Mr Seaton, The Hon. J. MACANDREW said that road boards and municipalities will be supplied with the New Zealand Gazette free ot expense. LUNATIC ASYLUMS. In reply to Mr Rolleston, The Hon. J. BALLANCE said a report upon the present condition of the Lunatic Asylums in the Colony was in the course of preparation. "MPO BRIDGE. Replying tc '.c George, Tiie Hon. J. MACANDREW said it was not the inter: of the Government to construct a bria ,-er the river Taipo, between Cnnstchurch a:.!-.; Hokitika. THE BROGDEN CLAIMS. In reply to a question by Mr Richardson, The Hon. J. MAC ANDREW said the Brogdenclaims had not been settled, and he ha<i just laid upon the table a paper containing the fullest particulars in relation to those claims. THE CONSTABULARY. In reply to Mr Sharp, The Hon. J. BALLANCE said the Government did not intend to introduce a Constabulary Bili this session. MR GOODFELLOW'S CLAIM. M? Mvr ™.V was informed by the Hon. J. MAOA.M>REW that the amount recommended by the Committee as compensation to Joshua Goodfellow would be placed on the ►supplementary Estimates. INSURANCE OF GOVERNMENT BUILDINGS. At the request of the Hon. W. Fox, the Go j vernment a-reed to produce a return giving all paiticulurs a.3 to the way in which Government Buildings were insured during the lust year. j GOVERNMENT ADVERTISING. ; The Hon. W. FOX moved for a return of all i advertisements published by the Government during the year terminating the Ist July, inviting tenders from publishers of newspapers for insertion of Government advertisements and notices of all tenders sent in reply to such advertisements, and giving the rated tendered, and showing any I tenders and tbeir rates not accepted ; also a re- | turn of all insertions of advertisements or notices in any newspaper by authority of any Government officer without tenders having j been publicly invited. The hon. gentleman disclaimed any desire personally to accuse the ! Press of being corrupted, but one was forced to | give attention to the matter from the fact that one section of the Press accused the other of i having been corrupted by receiving Governi meiit advertisements in lieu of rendering suuj port to the Government, If that was the case, lit was a state of things which never existed i before. Speaking from his own experience as a ■ Minister, he knew that tenders were always J called for, irrespective of the politics of the i paper.--. What made this practice more objec I tionable was that it was understood that these | papers in which members of the Government were interested, always received the fullest share of Government advertisements, while other papers equally capable of rendering the service required, were excluded from participation in these advertisements. There was a I paper in that town owned to a certain extent by j Jit least five or six members of the Ministry. (The hon. gentleman rsad the names with the number of shares held by each.) It had been i i alleged that the partial way in which Govc-r^-i incut advertisements had been given out wls on the grourd of economy, and tint I could not be the real reason, because he kaew lof a case where of three papers in a town,, two that were Government supporters received Government advertisements, the other paper tbat i did not support Government did not get, any of i the advertisements. j

The Hon. 11. STOUT said the Gaveramt'Ht would have no hesitation in furnishaag the leport required, and he thought ii % pity the last speaker had not waited until he was better informed. He was entirely wcaig in his facts. Taking Wellington, for instance, all the laud transfer notices were giv^n to the New Zealand Times, and none of that class were given to the New Zealander. Then at Dunedin, the Evening Star, a strong Opposition paper, was one of two that received Government adver-

isement;. The reason the other paper go£ he advertisements was because it iiad brsn the Provincial Gazette. * Mr JOYCE said the Government ought to give their advertisements to every paper in the Colony at a fixed rate, even if that was very low. This, at least, would remote one great inducement to corruption. The Hon. J. MACANDREW saidthatdeaiing with advertisements was a most difficult matter, and he heartily wished that some body would devise some means by which the many annoyances att:nding this question could be removed. It would cost an enormous sura to advertise in all the papers of the Colony. Mr GISBORNE bore testimony to the wav a Minster was made miserable through Go= vernment advertisements.

Mr WAKEFIELD argued that it was no& becoming in a Government to compel one Eefc of papers to insert their r Ivertisements gratis The last thin» they should study economy in was advertisements. One lower tender for & large contract would save money enough to cover a great deal of advertising. Mr M'LEAN said that the previous Government had not been in the habit of supporting their fil;ndj by advertisement"?. The late Government called for tenders, and then referred them to the Government printer. Why had not the present Government done the same? No, he thought they could not, because when the Times and Herald tendered for Governmeufc advertisements, the Herald tendered at one shilling an inch, while the Times tendered at four shillings, yet the Government accepted the tender of the Time-!. The same thing was being exhibit: i throughout the Colony. He thought Mr Joyceoffsredthebestsolution of this annoying question. (In the course of his remarks the hon. member proceeded to nrrrate an aneedots as to the how the Premier had withdrawn from entering into the New Zealrnder Company, adding "much in the same way as he withdrew from a cci Lam cottage and 250,000 acres of land.")

The PREMIER here entered the chamber, and caHed the attention of the Speaker to the words used. He said he believed the worr's referred to him, and he wished to say that it was a foul slander, and that the hon. member knew ifcwheu he used the language. Mr M'LEAN intimated that he did not care to get into an argument on the matter then, but at a future time he would probably explain exactly what he meant by the reference. The PREMIER demanded again that the hon. member should be more precise, and stata definitely when he intended to refer to ths matter again.

The SPEAKER said neither he nor the House had power to comj 3I a member to do so. The PREMIER rjaiu repeated that it was foul slander, and that the hon. member knew it to be so.

Mr BARTON hoped the Government would not suppoit the Opposition Press. He wanted to see parties better denned, and those papers who supported the Government to get Government advertisements. The Press ought to be made to feel who was in and who out. When the late Government came again into power, which was not very probable, let them suppoic the papers which supported them. He entirely upheld the action of the Government in regard to advertisements. It was high time the Government drew a bold l"ne of demarcation between the two sections of the Prers in the Colony. Mr TUENBULL suggested that as the que->tion was really a difficult one, the Hor.se should_ settle the basis on which t!ie system of advertising was conducted. Mr THOMSON suggested that the Goyerninent Gazette containing their advertisements should be stuck up at all telegraph and postoffieci. Mr BOWEN approved of the suggestion of thehon. member for Wallace (Mr Joyce.) It was a great deal better than the system of publishing Gazettes. He said thehon. member for Wan. ganui must have diawn upon his imagination for his facts, besause he ought to know that at that moment the Canterbury Press was performing a printing contract for the Government. As to the accusation that the Government gave its advertisements to the Times instead of the Herald, whoae tender was lower, the fact of the matter was, that when the tenders were advertised for and accepted and entered upon, the Herald was not even ia existence. He strongly deprecated that, under such a motion as that before them, a malicious attack should be made upon individual members of the Government. It was tot seemly for a member who had held his position as a Minister to act so. Very few Governments were m a position to throw stone.3 at each, other H respect to the distiibution of Government advertisements, for he knew of an instance in which the late Government showed its preference in the way of advertising. He strongly combat ted the idea that the support of newspapers could be purchased by Government advertisements. The hon. member referred to the political state of things previous to when the hon. member for the Thame-. came forward as a leader to restore to the people of the Colony the real power, and take it out of the hands of those ruling families who had began to think they had a prescriptive right to govern the country, and who were strong enough to crush any man who raised himself up against them, and dared to speak his mind, and who had in fact done so. If the Opposition had any policy let them avow it, but not to cavil on such small matters as these Mr FELDWICK was opposed to the idea of advertising by means of gazettes, which were only fit to cany Government advertisements, and if they gave them the circulation to make them efficient in adveitisements it would cosfc ten times the present sum. Many land jobs had :~i the past been made possible through, advertising in gazettes only. He approved. o£ the way in which the Government decentralised printing by distributing it throughout the Colony amongst a worthy class of men. He disapproved of the Government priuting the Gazette.

The debate w?<! inteirupted by the adjournment at 5 p.m.